


Number One Fan

by Araloth



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-20 20:57:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12441657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araloth/pseuds/Araloth
Summary: Lance discovers a forum for fans of Voltron after one of their shows and can't help diving into it.





	1. Chapter 1

             To no one’s surprise Lance is the one who discovers it first. He comes rushing into the castle’s lounge a tablet in his hand.

            “You guys aren’t going to believe this!” Lance is practically bouncing with enthusiasm.

            "What is it now?" Pidge sighs. 

            "Yeah can it wait man?" Hunk pleaded flopping down onto a seat. "That last show really took it out of me."

            ""I know what you mean." Allura  stretched trying to relive some of the tension in her neck. "For as silly as they are these performances are still hard work."

            "Of course they are!" Lance glared angrily at his exhausted teammates. "We have a duty to-"        

            "-Is it something we have to handle right now?" Shiro asked gesturing back to the tablet Lance was carrying. "Because other wise I think we could all use some time to recover."

            "That's what I'm trying to tell-look!" Lance shoved the tablet under Shiro's nose. "We have fans! All of Coran's work is paying off."

            "What?" Allura looked over curiously.

            "We really have fans?" Hunk hopped up to look at the tablet.

            Pidge was just as interested, already squeezing in beside Shiro. "Where did you find this?"

            Lance puffed out his chest proudly. "Online. I was looking at coverage of our latest show and I found a link to this forum."

            "Wow..." Hunk grinned reading some of the comments he could see. "These people are really enthusiastic." He frowned reading one commenter’s very detailed description of their dream date with Shiro.  "Maybe a little too much in some cases..."

            Shiro colored a bit, but kept scrolling. "Some of these posts are from planets and species we've never visited before...Coran's broadcasts really are making a difference."

            "See?" Lance puffed up his chest dramatically. "I told you this was worth it."

            "Look there’s posts on all of us.” Pidge said excitedly. “Even Keith.”

            Allura frowned, none of the posts Pidge scrolled past had even mentioned her.

            Hunk looked away from one of the posts about him and gave Allura a guilty smile. "Ah I'm sorry Allura. I’m sure they’d be posting about you too if they knew who you were..." Hunk brightened suddenly, "but hey-you got to figure at least some of Keith's popularity comes from how you play him."

            Allura laughed. "I don't know about that...but thank you Hunk."

            "Seriously though-" Lance groaned. "Do you see how popular I am?”

            Pidge smirked. "He's never letting this one go is he?"

            Shiro took the tablet back from Lance and gave the team a serious look. "Let's not forget why we're doing this. We're trying to build a coalition here. As fun as it might be we can't let ourselves get distracted by things like this."

            "Easy for you to say."Lance huffed.

            "Shiro's right." Allura sighed. "These posts prove the shows are working. We should keep our focus there for now."

            "On that note-" Shiro scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I think maybe it's best we don't show this to Coran right now."

            "You want to lie to Coran?" Pidge said skeptically.

            "No of course not." Shiro paused. " I just think he's a bit...overwhelmed right now. Allura's right. The shows are working. But if Coran sees this he'll just keep trying to make things even bigger then they already are."

            “He has been a bit off lately.” Pidge agreed.

One by the one the team nodded.

            "So we're agreed then?" Shiro asked."For now we let this go?"

            "Sure Shiro." Lance said. "You're the boss."

***

            “Okay…” Lance grinned. “Let’s see what my adoring fans have to say today…” It had been a few weeks since he’d first discovered the forum. Checking it had become routine for him now, hardly a day went by when he didn't read at least something from it, in spite of Shiro telling the team to leave it alone. Lance had snuck up to his station on the castle's bridge after today's show to read the latest comments, figuring everyone else would be taking it easy like usual. 

            The chime of the doors behind him proved him wrong. He scrambled to stand up, splaying himself on his consol to try and cover the incriminating screen. Hunk stepped into the control room and jumped when he saw Lance.

            "Oh uh-Lance." Hunk fumbled. "Hey buddy..."

            “Hunk.” Lance laughed nervously. “What are you doing up here?”

            Hunk eyed the screen behind Lance and grinned. “Your looking at the forum posts aren’t you?”

            “What?” Lance feigned outrage. “How could you even suggest that Hunk? Shiro specifically said-“

            “I can see the logo in the corner.” Hunk said smugly, pointing past Lance’s shoulder.

            “Oh…uh” Lance trailed off.

            “Relax man.” Hunk laughed. “I came up here to sneak a look too.”

            “Whew.” Lance sighed. “Next time lead with that.” Lance grinned. “Come on I was just about to pull up the new threads.”

            Lance climbed back into his chair and Hunk squeezed up next to him. Lance started scrolling through the posts. "There’s a bunch of new ones here…”

            “Yeah-oh wait wait, go back!” Hunk pointed excitedly. “That last one says it’s about me!”

            Lance laughed and clicked open the link. Both of them began to read.

 

            _Re: “Humorous” Hunk_

_roBeast: Am I the only one who doesn’t get why Hunk is even a paladin? I mean seriously, all does is fall around and fart a lot._

            Hunk’s face fell. “Wait what-?”

           

            _whiteLion: I know right? So lame._

“Are they all like this?” Hunk quickly flipped through the comments. He sighed. “I should have known those stupid jokes Coran keeps doing would lead to this…”

            “No way buddy.” Lance cracked his fingers and scrolled back to the top of page. “We’re fixing this.”

            Hunk watched confused as Lance clicked the new user button. “What are you going to do?”

            Lance grinned. “I’m going to write them back. These people love us right? I’m sure they’ll listen to a real Paladin of Voltron when he drops some knowledge on them.”

            “Oh-this feels like a bad idea.” Hunk moaned.

            “Relax.” Lance laughed already working on setting up his account. “What could possibly go wrong?”

 

***

            As it turned out several things could go wrong.

            “They suspended my account!” Lance barged into the lab where Hunk and Pidge were going over some of Matt’s old logs of Galra communications.

            “Hello Lance.” Pidge grumbled. “yes by all means come in. We’re not in the middle of something or anything-“

            “What do you mean they suspended your account?” Hunk asked.

            “I got into it with a couple of the other people on the forum and they stopped me from posting for like two weeks.”

            “Your still looking at that? Pidge asked. “What did you say that was that bad?”

            “I was just defending Hunk!” Lance said angrily. “Here look.” He passed the tablet he was brandishing to Pidge.

            Pidge adjusted her glasses and sighed. “Fine…what was so bad anyways…”

           

_theRealLance: Actually whiteLion Hunk is a really cool guy._

_whiteLion: How would you know?_

_roBeast: Yeah-trust me I’ve been to three Voltorn shows and watched the rest live. Hunk is always the same._

_theRealLance: I’ve been to all of the shows! Don’t you see my screen name? I’m actually Lance. For real. And I’m telling you the Hunk is way cooler then the show version of him._

_lance_ofvoltorn: LOL! As if screen names mean anything._

_whiteLion: Seriously dude-we’re not idiots no way you’re the real Lance. Probably just some stupid Hunk fanboy._

_roBeast: I just checked too-no one with that user name has logged in at any Voltorn shows so you’re straight up lying._

_theRealLance: I haven’t posted at any shows you idiots because I’m actually IN the show! Now-_

Pidge laughed. “You really thought they’d believe you?”

            “Yes!” Lance said bitterly. “But no matter how I tried to prove it they just kept saying I was lying and ragging on Hunk. Did you read some of the things they were saying about him?”

            “Why did you get suspended thought?” Pidge asked. “Nothing you posted there seemed bad.”

            “I uh-“ Lance blushed. “I may have used some choice alien insults I picked up on the last world we visited without fully understanding what they meant…”

            Pidge and Hunk both burst out laughing.

            “It’s not funny!” Lance protested.

            Hunk smiled. “Look Lance I appreciate what you’re trying to do but it doesn’t matter-“

            “No he’s right” Pidge said angrily, eyes back on the tablet. “Some of these people are way out of line. Maybe I could hack in-wait here’s one!

            “One of what?” Hunk asked curiously peering over Pidge’s shoulder.

            “Another positive comment!” Pidge said happily. “Look!”

 

            _voltronFan23: Hunk is actually a really sweet guy in person. The shows portrayals are all dramatized. And Hunk is actually an amazing cook too._

“Huh…” Lance reread the comment. “Let me guess those idiots jumped all over them too right?

            Pidge scolled lower. “No actually…look”

 

            _FeelingsAssemble: OMG! voltronFan23 is totally right! My parents and I went to the space mall after their show there and one of the restaurants in the food court has a giant poster of Hunk! Apparently he used to work there and came up with a bunch of the recipes for the food. It’s really good. Check out the pics-_

Several pictures were posted after the comment all by the same user, showing the old food stall with a huge poster of Hunk in his Voltorn gear. A line of customer’s could be snaking around the wall.

           

            “That’s awesome.” Lance grinned.

            “That a guy who forced Hunk to work for him is cashing in on his popularity?” Pidge asked pointedly.

            “Oh you know what I mean.” Lance laughed.

            Hunk was smiling too. “That actually is pretty cool.”

 

***

            Lance doesn’t give much thought  to the random forum user who stood up for Hunk after that. He’s glad whoever they are did, the tone of the thread defiantly improved, and Hunk had loved seeing he had some real fans, but keeping track of one user on a forum of thousands wasn’t something Lance cared to do.

But then he saw the new thread that had gone up that morning.

 

            _Re: Where’s the REAL Keith?_

_thesixthPaladin: Has anybody else noticed that the Keith in all the new Voltron shows seems different? The armor’s not even the same color. Keith wears red and whoever’s playing him in these shows is wearing more of a pink? What happened to the real Keith?_

            Lance groaned. The comments in the thread were one conspiracy theory after another. The real Keith was dead. No, he was captured and being held prisoner by the Galra. The person playing him was a clone. Something had happened to Keith and so Voltorn was using a stand in to try and trick the Galra into thinking they could still form Voltron while they looked for him. The theories got crazier and crazier, but beneath them all was a shred of real worry. Some posters were cleaving onto the fact that they had been using a cardboard Voltorn prop instead of the real thing in the latest shows as evidence that something bigger was amiss. Lance was about to bite the bullet and try and talk some sense into the posters (because it had worked so well last time), when a new comment popped up.

           

            _voltornFan23: The new paladin is Allura the princess of Altea. She flies the castle of Lions and is piloting the blue Lion now and Lance is in the red one. Keith isn’t flying a lion right now but I’m sure he’s working on other things for the fight against Zarkon._

The forum had taken the news and ran with it. Within a few hours posts were showing up of old historical facts about Altea people had dug up, pictures of the princess, her father, everything.

            “Check it out Allura you’re famous.” Lance laughed and slid the tablet to her.

            "Is that the silly forum you found?" Allura asked. "I thought Shiro said to leave that alone."

            "Oh okay." Lance said smugly reaching to take the tablet back. "I guess your not interested then in all these new posts talking about how cool you are..."          

            Allura perked up. "Really?"

            "Yeah." Lance grinned. "Words out about you being the new Paladin apparently. But you're right Shiro said not to get sucked into the forum." He picked up the tablet. "So I guess I'll just take this-" That was all it took.

            "Oh give it here." Allura laughed, smiling excitedly. Lance handed her the tablet and watched as she dove in. 

***

            A few days later it was a post about Pidge. 

            

            _Re: Scie_ _nce in the Voltron Show_

            _LionHeart: So my cousin who knows a little about some of this stuff said the science in the Voltorn Show doesn't actually make sense? Is that true?_

_GreenLion: Wait-are you saying Pidge isnt actually that smart then? That's dumb._

_iluvLance: Why would they put fake science in the show? Are you sure your cousin knows what he's talking about?_

_LionHeart: Yeah man. He's an engineer in a ship. He says none of the sciencey stuff Pidge talks about is even real._

 

            Lance showed the post to Pidge who was immediately horrified.

            "I told Coran something like this would happen!" Pidgeys said furiously. "Not everyone understand science but some people do! We have to post something Lance..."

            Lance shook his head. "Skip to the bottom."

            Grumbling, Pidgeys scanned ahead.

            _voltronFan23: Pidge really is super smart. They probably just cut the real science from the show so Zarkon didn't learn anything more about how the Paladins beat his monsters or how the lions work_

_GreenLion: I didn't think of that. But it makes total sense!_

_LionHeart: Would Zarkon really pay attention to a show like this?_

_FeelingsAssemble: Who knows? He might. Better safe then sorry._

_LionHeart: That's true I guess. Thanks for the response voltronFan23. You're great :)_

            "It's that same user again." Pidge said curiously.

            "Yeah." Lance pointed to a new symbol that appeared next to voltronFan23's username. "And do you see that star?"

            Pidge clicked on the gold star and a small message popped up:

            _This user has been certified as a first hand source of solid Voltron material. Things posted first by this user have been cross checked and confirmed true by evidence that arrives after their posting._

            "Huh..." Pidge adjusted her glasses, starring at the message skeptically. "They did know about Hunk being a good cook."

            Lance nodded. "And Allura. And now you. I mean seriously who is this guy?

            "We've visited and interacted with hundreds of people on any number of planets Lance." Pidge said. "Anyone of them could learn those little facts about us in no time."

            "Yeah I guess...but wouldn't you like to know who our big fan is?" Lance grinned. "You talked about hacking the forum before-you think you can really do it?"

            Pidge snorted. "Crack a basic passcode for an online forum? I can do it in my sleep."

            Lance laughed. "If you say so."

            "I know what you're doing." Pidge growled. "But fine." Pidge began typing furiously. "I'll have an answer for you in an hour. Max."

***

            Lance strolled back into Pidge's lab one hour later on the dot. "So Pidge who's are mystery fan?"

            Pidge gave Lance the darkest glare he'd ever seen from the Green Paladin. 

            "What?" Lance asked.

            "I don't want to talk about it." Pidge mumbled.

            "Don't tell me-"Lance burst out laughing. "You couldn't hack the site could you?"

            Pidge threw a notepad at Lance which he dodged easily.

            "I got into the site just fine." Pidge said defensively. "But whoever this is they have some serious encryption protocols on their account."

            "Really?" Lance asked skeptically.

            Pidge sighed.  "Really." 

            "Sure you're just not as good as you think you are?" Lance smirked.

            "Some of these encryptions use higher level protocols then the Galra transmissions Matt was working on." Pidge huffed.

            Lance frowned. "Wait so you're saying it's Galran code?"

            "Some of it." Pidge shrugged."But there's a lot of other code I haven't seen before too." Pidge pulled up a new screen of a different section of the forum. "And that's not all-look at some of the other things this person has said-In one thread they were answering someone's question about how to take out a Galran sentry if you had to."

           "Hmm." Lance sighed. "This just gets weird and weirder."

***

            Lance watches the forum more closely after that-purely for keeping tabs on this voltronFan23. It has nothing at all to do with the three new appreciation threads that started up around Lance after the last Voltron show. They're are new posts up about all of the others too, but that's nothing new. After a new show everyone on the forum is always talking about it for days. It's how Lance almost scrolls past the new thread about Shiro.             

            Of all the paladins, Shiro probably has the most actual posts about him on the forum-though Lance is sure that's because he's the leader, and Lance may or may not have reassured himself by counting up to be sure they're were more actual comments in the threads about him then in the ones about Shiro. Something about this Shiro thread grabs Lance's eye though. The title is literally just his name- _Shiro_ , but then Lance looks at who posted it and realizes why he noticed it.

            It's voltronFan23

            In all the time Lance has been on the forum he's never seen them start their own thread before. They always just seem to drop in and comment on everyone else's. Lance clicks the link quickly, curiosity racing as to what had finally driven the mysterious user to make their own thread. He reads quickly. And- _WHAT?_ Lance grabs his com and sends a quick message to the others, sans Shiro. 

             _Team meeting. Right now._

_***_

            Maybe fifteen minutes later everyone is finally gathered in the castle's lounge. 

            "What is it now Lance?" Allura asks, just a slight edge to her voice.

            "This!" Lance brandished the tablet in his hand, tossing it down on the table for the others to read.

            "Oh-" Hunk perked up and leaned forward to read the screen. "Something new on the forum?"

            "I'll say." Lance growled. "Did any of you know about this? Is this another one of those things that everybody knew but me?"

            Pidge rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about Lance?"

            Lance shook his head and pointed back at the tablet. "Just read it."

            The others all huddled up around the screen.

 

             _Re: Shiro_

             _voltronFan23: Hey guys-so I don't normally post like this but I feel like I need to._ _At the last show Voltron did at least three different individuals_   _tried to sneak into Shiro's dressing room to meet him, convinced he would fall in love with them if he just met them I guess. I'm sure Shiro was perfectly polite, but this really shouldn't happen. Shiro and the rest of the team deserve their privacy. And while I'm sure Shiro_ _wouldn't say anything to anyone, he's actually happily dating someone right now. Like I said he's a private guy so I'm not going to go into any details but i just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page with this._

_ShiroGurl: Omg! I can't believe that happened. Poor Shiro! Nice to know he's happily dating someone though even if it does crush my dreams just a little bit. Thank you for saying something voltronFan23._

_ShirosMyHero: I heard a couple people got kicked out for trying to sneak backstage but didn't realize it went this far. You're absolutely right-that shouldn't happen._

_FeelingsAssemble: Totally! Glad to hear Shiro's happy though. VF23 if you're in_ _touch with Shiro let him know that not all of us are like that! And that we're sorry for the crazies who went too far._

_black <3paladin: If we find out who they were we should spread the word. That's not okay. Happy for Shiro though._

           "So!?" Lance said interrupting before Hunk, Allura and Pidge could read anymore. "Did you all know about this?"

            "I'd heard some fans slipped backstage." Allure said calmly. "But I didn't realize for what. But relax Lance, Shrio can handle himself. 

            "Yeah buddy." Hunk smiled gently. "I really don't think you have to worry about-"

            "Not that!" Lance groaned. "That Shiro's apparently dating someone!"

            "Oh..." Hunk said thoughtfully. "Do you think that's true?"

            "Shiro would tell us if he were dating anybody right?" Pidge looked to the others questioningly.

            "Oh I'm sure he would." Allura's smile slipped just a little. "But I suppose this voltronFan23 has been right before..."

            "Exactly!" Lance exclaimed. "They've been right in everything up till now."

            They all fell silent.

            "Well I guess we could always just ask him right?" Hunk asked.

            "Sure Hunk." Lance grinned. "But since it's your idea you get to be the one to ask him."

            "What? No I don't want to-"

***

            They found Shiro in the castle's control room, brow furrowed as he studied a holomap. The others trudged in slowly, pushing Hunk to the front.

            Hunk sighed. "Uh h-hey Shiro..."

            "Hey guys." Shiro gave them all a small smile. 

            "What are you uh-what are you working on there?" Hunk asked. Lance gesturing for him to get to the point.

            "Going over the latest reports from our rebel allies. There's a couple things here I think we can use..."

            "That's cool." Lance grinned. "But Hunk here actually had something he wanted to ask you."

            "What is it?" Shiro asked.

            "Is there uh-is there anything you want to tell us?" Hunk stammered.

            Shiro cocked an eyebrow, looking at them curiously. "What?"

            "Oh fine I'll ask."Lance groaned. "-you're terrible at this Hunk." 

            "Yep all you Lance." Hunk sighed with relief. "I'm terrible at confrontation."

            "Confrontation?" Shiro gave them all a baffled look.

            "Yeah-" Lance stepped forward and pointed at Shiro dramatically. "You've been holding out on us-why didn't you tell us you were dating someone?"

            "I'm not." Shiro said flatly. "Why would you think that?"

             "Oh- well uh...huh" Lance laughed awkwardly. "You remember that forum that we all promised we'd definitely leave alone...?"

***      

            "So let me get this straight..." Shiro said finally having finished the last of the posts Lance had insisted he read. "You've all been reading this stuff this whole time?"

            "Well maybe not the _whole_ time..." Lance trailed off.

            "And whoever this is has the profile more heavily encrypted then Galra communications?" Shiro contuined.

           Pidge nodded. "Yeah..."

           "And they seem to know a lot about us." Shiro said. "Even if-" Shiro raised his voice seeing Lance about to speak again "even if they did get some things wrong. I told you I'm not dating anyone. I don't know why they'd say that..."

            "Well it did quell some of your more rabid fans a bit." Hunk piped up.

           "What are you thinking Shiro?" Allura asked concerned. 

            "That we may have a new ally. Or an enemy..." Shiro paused deep in thought. "I've got an idea."

             It took only a few minutes to call Keith at the Blade of Marmora headquarters, the castle esatablishing a secure line even across the vastness of space.

            Keith's face slid into view, hair ruffled, small bags under his eyes. "Shiro?"

            "Keith- sorry did we wake you up?" Shiro asked. 

            Keith shook his head. "Haven't gone to bed yet. We got back from a mission a couple hours ago. Just been trying to wind down..."

           "Shiro?" Kolivan stepped up behind Keith. "Does Voltron need something?"

           "Uh no-not exactly. I was just going to ask Keith for a favor. If it's alright with you of course."

           "What can we do for you Shiro?" Keith asked.

            "Lance and the others came accorss a forum where someone had been posting a lot of reliable information about Voltron and the Galra." Shiro began. "Pidge tried to ID the person responsible but their information is too well encrypted."

            "Oh." Keith said curiously. "Uh-"

            "You're hoping the Blade code breakers and our network will have better luck." Kolivan surmised.

             Shiro nodded. "Exactly. The Blades survived centuries in the shadows. If anyone can flush someone like this out its you. If that's alright."

             "So long as Keith is careful to not compromise the security of the Blade of Marmora I see no problem with this." Kolivan said after a moments pause.

              "Thank you." Shiro smiled. "Keith you think you're up for the challenge?"

               "Uh...yeah." Keith said. "I'll uh get right on it for you guys."

               "Get some sleep first." Shiro suggested gently. "But thanks."

                Keith smiled. "Sure thing Shiro."

***

                When the connection to the castle clicked off Keith turned awkwardly to Kolivan, already feeling his face heating up.

                "Uh Kolivan-about that investigation Shiro asked me to do..."

                "I meant what I said." Kolivan said sternly. "So long as your activities don't hurt the Blades' efforts it will not be a problem."

                "Which I appreciate." Keith began slowly "it's just-"

                 "That being said-" Kolkvan cut him off and then _he smiled._ Something Keith had _never_ seen him do before, and on Kolivan the gesture was somehow both endearing and terrifying. "Your secret is safe with me."

                 "I-you knew?" Keith stumbled over his words, which only seemed to increase Kolivan's enjoyment of the situation. 

                 "Shiro is right." Kolivan said simply. "You should get some rest."

                  Keith nodded. "I will. Thank you."

                  He trudged back to his room, his thoughts a million miles away. He'd promised one of the other fans he'd post again that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally thought of this as a funny little bit while brain storming another story I want to write but it just kept getting longer. If there's interest I may write a second part to this from Keith's perspective with the team evantually finding out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to finish-I'd meant to have it up sooner but life intervened.The Keith/Shiro can just as easily be read as a protective friendship but I wanted to make sure I tagged it just in case, because I know while I ship it not everybody does and it wasn't something I really had in chapter one.

            Keith groaned and flopped into the well worn bed. He couldn't call it his bed, or even really his room for that matter-he was currently staying in one of the Blade's smaller bases on his way back from a mission. There were maybe ten rooms here all told, all just bare essentials, and open to any Blade member that happened to be passing through and need a place to rest for awhile. In the morning Keith would finish the rest of the trip back to headquarters and report to Kolivan for his new orders.

           The walls were thin, the small base not designed with comfort in mind, and Keith could hear Erdac-his partner for the last job- snoring softly. Or at least the strange half purr half huff that seemed to pass for Galra snoring. Keith sighed. He was somehow both exhausted and unable to fall asleep. His body ached, muscles sore from a hard day's work, but his mind was still racing. Reliving the mission, going over some of the new data they had managed to gather, wondering how Voltron and the others were doing. 

            Keith growled in frustration and flung back the covers. He climbed out of bed gingerly and walked over to sit at the small desk on the far wall, the only other piece of furniture in the room. He powered up the data screen there, the blue white glow bathing the room in an errie light.

            He didn't really know what he was looking for. Keith had never been the easiest sleeper. Back on Earth in the desert he might have starred up at the stars, imagining all the distant places and people they might be hiding. Now that he was here, out among the stars, it felt different. The sense of awe he'd felt as a kid was still there, rushing to the surface every time he flew, but the mystery of the stars seemed just a little darker now. Keith knew that most of those planets almost all of them, would be parts of the Galra empire. And anyways the small Marmora base he was in didn't have any real view ports. Tucked as it was into an asteroid, all you could really see outside was rock. 

            Keith scanned through the latest intelligence reports other Blades had put in. If he couldn't sleep he might as well try and be productive. But try as he might he couldn't give them the focus they deserved. He read the same paragraph three times and still found himself not grasping it. Keith rubbed his eyes in vain. He needed something to help him relax. His thoughts drifted back to team. It had been a few days since he had talked to any of them. Keith glanced at the clock on the computer screen and frowned. Last they'd spoken the team had still been on Olkarion still. Converting the time to local Olkarion in his head he doubted that anyone would be awake. But if they'd relocated to another world for one of the shows Shiro had been telling him about it was always possible it was daytime where they were. Keith ran a quick search for the Voltron show to see if he could find a schedule of the most recent performances.

            Instead he found the forum. It had taken him a minute to grasp what he'd stumbled upon, and even then his first thoughts had still been to scan the posts for the locations of some of the latest shows. But the more post titles he read the more intrigued he became. There were articles on all on them except Allura, though he guessed Coran and Allura's choice to have her play Keith in the shows had something to do with that. Keith stretched his arms back and forth trying to relieve some of the tension in his body and settled in to read.  

***

            "You look aweful." Erdac said bruskly. 

            Keith grumbled and rubbed his eyes trying in vain to wake up more. "Couldn't sleep."

            Erdac hummed briefly in sympathy, giving Keith a quick once over. Besides the small dark circles under his eyes he looked healthy enough. But Erdac was far from an expert on human phisiology. "Are you unwell?" 

            "I'm fine." Keith managed a small smile. "Just a lot on my mind I guess." The forum had been a welcome distraction, but even so it had been pretty late by the time Keith finally nodded off to sleep. Keith slipped into the pilot's seat in the small two man shuttle they'd used for their last infiltration and moved to power the ship up. "Ready to go?"

            Erdac frowned. "Your mind was on the mission?"

            "In part." Keith shrugged. 

            "Was it the same for you with Voltron?" Erdac asked. If his not sleeping was a recent development she knew Kolivan would want to know. On paper Erdac and Keith were equals in this assignment, but Erdac had served under Kolivan for years, and he had privately made it clear to her that she was to keep an eye on the young paladin as he continued to adjust to working with the Blades. Whether the hybrid realized it or not, keeping him safe was still a priority. 

            "Not quite as bad." Keith sighed. "But I'm still getting to used to how the Blades work. With Voltron things were usually over pretty quick. We'd fly in, fight, and get out. All these longer hours staking out targets and gathering intel are still pretty new to me."

            That made sense Erdac supposed. Still-

            "What-?" Keith yelped in surprise as Erdac pulled him up out of the pilot's chair. 

            "I will fly." She said simply.

            "I'm the better pilot." Keith glowered. "I can do it."

            “I will manage.” Erdac replied stubbornly. “You put your hood up and sleep.”

            Keith was silent for a moment. The offer was tempting-but he really was the better pilot. Erdac could fly the ship just fine under normal circumstances but if it came to fight-“What about-“

            Erdac rolled her eyes, a gesture of annoyance she’d picked up from Keith over the last week. She’d grown strangely fond of it and was using it more and more frequently. “If you’re needed I will wake you.”

            Keith hesitated just a moment longer. “Promise?”

            Erdac sighed in exasperation but simply nodded. “Yes.”

            “Okay then…” Keith slid down into the passenger seat and pulled the mask on his suit up to help filter ot some of the ambient light and noise. “Thank you.”

            “Sleep.” Erdac said sternly.

            Keith smiled, knowing the mask would hide his expression and closed his eyes.

 

***

            Erdac didn’t wake him until it was time to make the final approach to the Blade of Marmora base. Erdac had flown it many times herself, but in such a small and clunky ship they both knew it was better for Keith to take them in. He adjusted the seat slightly for his smaller frame and pushed the throttle gently forward, threading the ship through the celestial maze.

            Kolivan was waiting for them when they got inside.

            Keith fished a data card out of his pocket and handed it over to him. “Here’s all the intel we recovered.”

            Kolivan nodded stiffly. “Did you encounter any problems?”

            Keith shook his head. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

            “Very well.” Kolivan pocketed the data card. “Once I’ve gone over this we can begin planning our next move.” Kolivan paused. “Erdac-walk with me a moment.”

            Recognizing a dismissal when he heard one, Keith made his way through the base to the quarters he’d been assigned. He slipped out of his suit and into a simple pair of shorts and a t-shirt, sitting down in front of the computer screen. Without really thinking about it, Keith found himself pulling up the fan forum he had found again. He’d scanned a few new posts before he caught sight of it-the new thread about Hunk. Reading the post just made Keith angrier and angrier. Before even stopping to think about it, Keith was pulling up the window to make a new account. He stopped suddenly as he remembered where he was. Keith sighed. Patience yields focus. Keith double checked all of the security settings on the computer. Once he was satisfied everything was working properly he began setting up an encryption for his account. Keith was by no means the tech wizard Pidge or Hunk was, but since he’d started working with the Blades, Kolivan had made it a point for him to learn all of their security protocols. After weeks of drilling Keith knew enough of the Blade of Marmora’s encryption codes to be able set up a secure connection anywhere in the universe-which he had to admit was a useful skill given the kind of work he’d been doing with the Blades.

           With his account finally set up, Keith returned to the post about Hunk and began typing. Keith must have started and stopped at least four different times, deleting everything he’d typed and starting over again. He had to get the wording just right. Even if these people were being super rude to Hunk they were still fans, and Keith had to remind himself- probably meant well-not that it made their post any more appropriate. Finally Keith felt he found the right balance, a way to praise Hunk and show what a great guy he was, while still being civil. He sighed and proofed the post one final time before putting it up.

***

            Keith wasn’t able to get on the forum again for a few days after that. He had been working with Kolivan constantly, poring over the new intelligence they’d been able to salvage on his last mission and trying to piece together more on what the next step in the new quintessence pipeline might be. When he’d finally get back to his room late at night, Keith would fall asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. And even when he had a spare moment, Keith really didn’t think about the forum that much. When he finally logged on again, maybe a week after he replayed to the post about Hunk he was surprised to find a dozen or more messages responding to his post-all parsing Hunk and thanking Keith for the information he posted. Keith dug up the thread again and was thrilled to see how much the tone had changed after what he’d posted. The fans, at least the ones posting here, had finally gotten a taste of the real Hunk. Navigating back to the main page Keith saw a post about himself. Laughing he opened the link. Upon closer inspection the post was really more about Allura, not that the fans knew that of course. They were just confused by the two very different images of Keith they’d seen. Grinning Keith scrolled to the bottom of the thread and began to type. It had worked once before right?”

***

            Over the next few weeks Keith became more and more involved with the forum. The fans loved everything he posted whether it was setting the record straight on just how smart Pidge really was, or telling a funny story about Lance. It was also a nice way for Keith to stay up to date on everything the team was doing. Keith still talked to them, but between the time differences, all his work with the Blades, and the Volton’s own work it made finding any regular time to catch up next to impossible. Sometimes days would go by without Keith hearing from any of the team, and other days he’d get calls from all of them within a couple of hours.

            Keith knew from the forum the team had another big show planned for today, which meant he was all the more surprised to see the com blinking slowly when he finally got back to his room after a long day of training with the Blades. Keith dashed across the room the answer it.

            “Hello?” He hit the switch and fumbled into his chair as the call screen resolved into an image of a very tired looking Shiro.

            “Keith hey.” Shiro smiled. “I was about to give up. Thought maybe you were out on another mission.”

            Keith shook his head. “No I just got back from one yesterday. I’ll probably be on base for a few more days while we figure out our next move…” He paused studying Shiro closer. “What about you? Didn’t you guys have a big show today?”

            “Yeah.” Shiro laughed awkwardly. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to this kind of thing.”

            “What?” Keith asked grinning. “Being Shiro the Hero?

            Shiro shrugged. “It’s just a little weird?”

            Keith frowned. “Did something happen?”

            “It was nothing.” Shiro sighed. “Why don’t you tell me how the work with Blades is going?”

            “In a minute.” Keith scowled. “Come on. Tell me what’s up.”

            “Just-well a couple of fans broke into my dressing room before the last show we did.” Shiro said. “They didn’t try anything or even see anything-“ Shiro added quickly seeing Keith’s expression darken. “It was just weird. I know all the attention Coran’s getting us is good for the cause-“

            “But you’d prefer it if the attention was less on you and more on building the coalition.” Keith finished.

            “Exactly.” Shiro smiled. He’d knew Keith would understand. The others did to a point, but Lance loved the attention, and Allura as a princess had been trained to be in the public eye since she was a child. Even Pidge and Hunk seemed to love having fans and getting their attention. Of all of them, only Keith was probably less social then Shiro-and now he was half a galaxy away. “But come on-I’ve complained to you enough. Tell me how the Blade training is going.” Shiro said happily. “Does Kolivan still have you doing infiltrations?”

            Keith grinned and launched into several long stories, catching Shiro up with everything Keith had been doing. Even so in the back of his mind, a part of him was still furious at the fans that had crossed a line and made Shiro feel uncomfortable. Keith promised himself he would fix that situation right away. After talking to Keith for almost two hours, Shiro finally had to go. They ended the call all smiles like usual, but as the screen went dark again, Keith couldn’t help but miss being able to talk to Shiro like that everyday. The others too. But for now Keith needed to be here with the Blades. It was the best thing for everyone-even it wasn’t always the easiest. Keith sighed and pulled up the forum. One problem at least he could try and solve. Keith scrolled over to the tab to make a new post and clicked it open. He took several passes at writing the message, toning down the language a bit each time. Most of the fans he knew were harmless if maybe a bit overzealous, biting their heads off wouldn’t help achieve his goal. Keith read the message one final time. Taking Shiro off the market, even in the most unofficial of ways, should help. And Keith felt a small surge of pride in knowing that. He’d look out for Shiro, just like Shiro would for him. Nice as they were none of the fans Keith had interacted with on the forum were good enough for Shiro anyways.

***

            Two days later Keith gets another call from Shiro. He’s in the main briefing room going over some final details from the mission with Kolivan, so the call gets routed there instead of his quarters. Things with the new quintessence pipeline for the Empire are progressing quickly, more quickly then any of them thought to be honest, and Keith’s pretty tired, but he takes the call without even thinking about it.

            “Shiro?”

            Shiro explains the reason for the call, and Keith fights very, very hard, not to blush. Of course Lance found the forum too. Kolivan doesn’t help matters any by admitting he knows what Keith’s been up too. So now Keith has to pretend to investigate himself. Because how could that possibly go badly for him? Keith sighs and steps inside his quarters. He’s exhausted but he pulls up the forum anyways and at least types a few quick replies to some questions other users have asked. His eyes glazed over after only ten minutes or so, and he forces himself to go to bed. The question of what to do for the investigation Shiro’s asked him to run looms over him. Keith sighed and closes his eyes. He’ll think of a solution in the morning.

***

            “You’re benching me?” Keith has to fight to keep the anger out of his voice. “I thought I was doing good work-“

            “You are.” Kolivan’s tone is that of a parent trying to educate a small child-or at least what Keith assumes that must sound like-patient, and just a little patronizing. Keith hates it. “More work then almost any other Blade under my command. Which is why you are going to take this time off. The equivalent of two of your human weeks.”

            Keith snarls in protest. “But-“

            “You need rest.” Kolivan cuts him of briskly. “It will not do to run yourself ragged. You will become a liability to yourself and those around you.”

            Keith sighs, and tries to reign himself in a bit. He has been pretty tired lately…

            “…I assure you this is standard operating practices within in the Blades.” Kolivan continued. “And I’m sure the other paladins will understand the delay in your investigation.”

            “Wh-oh…”Keith paused understanding suddenly dawning on him. “Yeah I guess you’re right…”

            Kolivan nodded knowingly. “Speaking of your friends-if you would wish to spend this time with them aboard the castle it could be arranged. A team will be leaving for assignment not far from Voltron’s last location soon.”

            “Yeah…” Keith said quietly. “That'd be nice…thank you…”

            “Be at the hanger ready, in two varga.” Kolivan was already walking away. “I will inform the others you are joining them.”

            Keith smiled. “I will.”

***

            The refugees the team had resettled on Olkarion were flourishing from what Keith could tell. In the time since he’d last been here the temporary settlements the Olkari had helped build had taken on a life of their own, becoming a small but thriving community just outside the Castle of Lions. Keith couldn’t help feeling a little proud seeing everything that had been accomplished, even if was followed by a wave of shame. These people were safe because of Voltorn. Safe, inspite of Keith himself failing them. If it hadn’t been for Shiro-

            Keith shook his head, and tried to clear his thoughts as he finally approached the castle’s front gate. He stepped inside, not sure quite what to expect.

            “Ah Keith! So happy to see you.” Coran came bounding up to Keith all smiles. “Glad to have you back for a bit.”

            Keith smiled. “Hey Coran.”

            “I’m afraid the others are all out in their lions at moment. Small mission helping some of our rebel allies relocate. I myself have to run too. I’m meeting with some of the Olkari leaders to go over some plans for the coalition.” Coran said.

            “Oh.” Keith hadn’t expected everyone to be gone. “Well I guess I’ll see them when they get back then.”

            “You can monitor the mission from the bridge if you like.” Coran called out cheerfully as he headed out. “We’re not expecting any trouble but should something come up there’s more then enough of Allua’s energy in the system for you to wormhole the castle to help.”

            Lacking any other direction, Keith wandered up to the bridge, the small bag of belongings he’d packed with him for his make shift vacation slung over his shoulder. The doors to the bridge hissed opened and Keith stepped inside. The team’s displays were already pulled up-no doubt Coran had been keeping an eye on them before he left. Keith supposed he might as well settle in and wait.

            He paused, suddenly unsure where to sit. Certainly not in the black chair-that was firmly Shiro’s again. And red was now Lance’s. Keith sighed and settled down into the red chair anyways, hoping Lance wouldn’t mind. Despite the familiarity of the seat, Keith couldn’t get comfortable. He watched the team finishing up with the last of the rebel cargo ships. Keith briefly considered opening up the comms, but decided against it. Dropping off the last of the rebel supplies the Lions turned back and began the short flight back to Olkarion. Using any of Allura’s stored energy to open a wormhole for them for such a short flight would be wasteful Keith knew, so instead he found himself pulling up the fan forum again. If he wanted to maintain his discretion he probably wouldn’t be able to post anything once the others got back. The Blade of Marmora encryptions Keith had used may have stumped Pidge temporarily, but really didn’t want to push his luck by using them right under her nose and on the castle system’s she knew so well. Keith yawned. He’d just post once to let people know he’d be offline for a few days and then he’d log off.

***

            Keith woke up groggily to Lance’s face looming over him.

            Lance cocked an eyebrow. “You want to explain this?”

            “Oh-“ Keith moved to stand up, slowly stretching his stiff muscles. “Sorry I was in you’re chair-

            “What?” Lance gave Keith a baffled look. “Not that you idiot. This.” Lance pointed to the screen in front of Keith dramatically. The screen Keith now saw was still logged in to his forum account. He’d fallen asleep without closing it.

            “Oh that.” Keith stood up awkwardly fumbling for an explanation. “I uh…”

            The others were all crowded around him now too. Keith looked from one face to the next unsure how they would react.

            “Have you been the one posting all that stuff?” Hunk asked.

            “Uh yeah.” Keith muttered softly. “Sorry…“

            Allura surged forward pulling Keith into a tight hug. “Oh Keith. Whatever would you have to be sorry for? You said some of the nicest things…”

            Hunk quickly joined the hug, wrapping his arms firmly around Keith. “Thanks buddy.”

            “Yeah!” Lance laughed. “How come you can’t say nice about us like that to our faces?”

            Pidge rolled her eyes, already squeezing in between Hunk and Allura. “Shut up and hug Lance.”

            Lance grinned and steeped up beside her.

            “Shiro?” Keith asked, straining to turn his head to him under the mass of limbs.

            Shiro came into view slowly walking around behind Hunk, smiling wide. “You said some pretty amazing things Keith…”

            Keith blushed, and struggled to keep a straight face as Shiro joined the group hug, all of his friends beaming around him. “Well it’s true…” Keith said simply. “All of it.”

            “Aww.” Hunk sniffed and released Keith to wipe his eye. “You’re making me cry man…”

            That got laughs from everyone

            “If you’ll all excuses me a moment-“ Lance moved towards the doors. “I’m going to go change. One of the rebels accidently spilled some weird smelling liquid on me and I can’t see to get it off.

            Keith smirked. “You hugged me covered in weird smelling liquid?”

            Lance laughed. "Consider it a welcome back gift!”

            “I’m going to go change too.” Allura said. “And then we need to celebrate!”

            “Celebrate?” Keith said skeptically. “Moving some rebel supplies?”

            “Celebrate friendship.” Allura said confidently. “and having you back in the castle again.”

            Pidge and Hunk followed Allura out, leaving Keith alone with just Shiro.

            “They know I’m going back to the Blades right?”

            Shiro smiled. “Of course we do. We’re just happy to get to spend some time with you again. We’ve missed you.”

            Keith smiled back. “I’ve missed you guys too."

            Shiro reached down and grabbed Keith’s bag off the ground. “C’mon let’s put this in you’re room and then get ready for this celebration Allura’s planning.”

            Keith grinned and slung the bag back over his shoulder. He took three steps towards the doors and paused, realizing Shiro hadn’t moved yet.

            Keith eyed him curiously. “Shiro?”

            Shiro had a huge grin on his face, something Keith hadn’t seen in a long time. “You’ll have to introduce me to this guy I’m supposedly dating sometime too.”

            “Oh I-“ Keith felt his face heating up again. Why did I think that post was a good idea? “I never said it was a guy-just that you were seeing somebody…”

            “Right.” Shiro laughed and moved to catch up with Keith. “I just feel like if I’m going to date this person I should probably know who they are…why did you say that anyways? It worked, but if you wanted to get some of the fans to lay off a bit you could have just said so.”

            “I’m never living this down am I?” Keith asked.

            Shiro wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulders, his eyes starring right into Keith’s. Shiro smiled. “Not a chance.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. Hope you guys liked it. I have an idea for maybe a short third part for this that would be more from Shiro's point of view, and be more obviously Keith/Shiro so if you would be interested in me adding that at some point let me know.
> 
> Also! Now that I've finished this for now I'm going to start work on an alternate ending to season 4 that is basically what I wished would have happened, and what I thought they might have been trying to set up. Amongst other things I plan to work in my theory on who Keith's mom could have been, so keep an eye open for that if you're interested.


End file.
